This Beautiful Golden Eagle eagle is named for its golden brown
plumage, with head and nape feathers are a little slightly lighter,
golden color. The golden eagle is between 26-33 inches in height, the
eagle has a wingspan of 78 inches (over 7 feet long) and weighs 3.2 to
6.4 kg. Adults have a bill which is a bit smaller and darker than that
of other eagle, which include the bald eagle. The immature golden
eagle's in flight can be recognised from the immature bald eagle by the
presence of distinct white patches on the under-wing and by a large
white tail with dark band. The most notable field mark at any age
distinguishing these two eagles, should you be in a position to see it,
is the presence of feathers on the legs of golden eagles all the way
down to the toes while the bald eagle has a considerable amount of the
leg showing. Its favored prey food include rodents, birds, rabbits, and
reptiles, as well as carrion. They have also been known to take small
sheep and other small farm animals.
Life and the History of these eagle's
The golden eagle is a long-lived bird, with a life span believed to be
around 30 years or even more. It is also known that a pair of eagle's
mate for life and defends a large selected territory against other
golden eagles to protect there young from starving. Both the male and
female help in building the nest, occasionally in a tree but more often
on a cliff ledge, commonly with the protection of an overhanging tree
or rock so they have shelter. The nest is made of large sticks and
branches and often contains aromatic leaves which may serve to deter
insects and other small pests. Since the same nest may be used and
added to almost every year, So as you can imagine theses nests can
become very large due to the birds adding to them.
The birds nest usually of 1 or 2 sometimes but rarely 3 eggs which
hatch after an incubation period of 34-45 days. Eaglets fledge in 65-75
days. The male provides some help with incubation, but he is the major
food provider during incubation and chick rearing. Young reach sexual
maturity and obtain adult coloration in most cases at around 5 years of
age.
Habitat is very Important
The golden eagle is seen worldwide throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Golden eagles are typically associated with the large plains of the
western United States, and are fairly common in our western states,
Alaska and western Canada. Never abundant in the eastern U. S., this
species is now virtually extirpated as a breeding bird east of the
Mississippi River. Golden eagles once nested at no more than a few or
so sites in the Adirondacks of New York, in Maine and in New Hampshire.
They are believed to still nest in large numbers in eastern Canada and
they are also protected here, as evidenced by hundreds of golden eagles
appearing during the fall and spring migrations in the eastern U. S.
Preferred habitats include generally open areas, mountains, grasslands,
and deserts. The golden eagle feeds primarily on live mammals such as
ground squirrels and rabbits, and other small animals found in their
preferred upland habitats. In winter they will feed on carrion and
waterfowl in the east.
Status
Golden eagles have been protected in the United States since 1963.
During the 1950's, an estimated 20,000 eagles were destroyed by
ranchers and farmers, particularly sheep farmers who perceived them to
be a major threat to there livestock. In the north eastern states,
remnant populations declined drastically to almost distinction.
Although sightings occur every year in New York, most are during
migration. A nest was built in the winter of 1992-93 by a wintering
pair in southeastern New York, but has never been used as the pair
departs every spring to return the next fall. The reasons for the
decline of this species in the east are not clear. Various factors seem
to be involved, including shooting, accidental trapping, human
disturbance at nest sites, posishing, loss of essential open hunting
habitat due to succession and fire control, and possibly pesticide
contamination (especially by DDT).and also construction and building
works.
Hacking, a technique used successfully in New York to restore the bald
eagle, has been considered for golden eagle's, but has not been pursued
due to the uncertainty of why golden eagles disappeared from New York
and whether these conditions still remain. Tracking of golden eagle's
is being conducted in a few south eastern states during the 1990's and
latter and at least three pair's has nested in there in recent years.
Mick Rush has been studying birds for over
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